During the Reagan years, a dramatic shift took place within the Republican party. While President Reagan maintained his welcoming persona, conservative attitudes and policies became increasingly hard and authoritarian, exploiting cultural differences and financial inequities to serve powerful special interests. Today’s modern conservatives would likely find themselves at odds with many of the policies he touted in the ’80s.
We must stop voting on the rhetoric without examining the record. Remember Reagan’s “Trust, but verify.” Forget what you’ve been conditioned to believe is the liberal or conservative approach — both sides push a modern narrative that ignore real democratic values. Read Rick Perlstein’s latest op-ed on modern GOP ties to Reagan and share your thoughts.
From Al Jazeera English
